Suniel Shetty's five guiding principles helped him make transitions in life. These may help you too

Bollywood actor and entrepreneur Suniel Shetty recently shared five guiding principles that helped him make transitions in life. He shared his journey and switches made so far. In a LinkedIn post, he jotted down all his professional roles, (apart from those he played in his movies), starting with being a restaurateur at the age of 21.

But when everyone expected him to settle down with the restaurant business, he decided to switch to fashion merchandising. At the age of 24, Shetty quit his flourishing family business and entered the fashion industry. In his words, "That leap led me to build out my first baby, Mischief!."

It was only a few years later that he realized he must pursue a career in films as an actor. And at the age of 28, Shetty started his journey in films despite his friends calling the decision -  of giving up the fashion business to pursue a career in films - ridiculous. 

Shetty said that back then it was uncommon to switch fields, but things are different today as education today is more specific to interests, and ultimately careers. "What hasn't changed though, is what one needs to do in order to succeed at making such changes and transitions," he pointed out.

Shetty further said that some of the guiding principles, whenever it came to making those transitions, were the family, plan, X factor, network, and improvement. 

According to the Bollywood star, the family should always be taken into confidence. "If there’s any resistance, work through it." He said making a roadmap is another important principle when pursuing transition. "Speak to people, gather intelligence, and prepare well. I did a whole lot of homework about the real estate business before we broke ground with our first project." 

Shetty shared his X factor from his fashion entrepreneur days, "When I opened my first fashion store, I was sourcing stuff from international markets way before anyone else did."

The next principle is to build connections and maintain them. "Don’t do this with the hope of gaining something. Do it from a genuine place, and add value to their lives. Don’t do this with the hope of gaining something. Do it from a genuine place, and add value to their lives. Yes, be genuine in your approach to networking. Some connections, I've now nurtured for close to 40 years."

Shetty also noted how important being consistent and improving oneself is. "Keep finding ways at getting better. Upskill. It’s simple, there’s no way around this." 

Lastly and most importantly, he emphasised be happy in whatever you do."

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